Chive Flower Salad

Chives have a special place in the garden – and that would be right up there with weeds. Much like mint, they’re invasive, spreading and stretching, popping up feet after feet away from their original planting site. Pesky plants. After I dug up some clumps last spring, they’ve sprouted near my roses bushes, nudged next to the lilies, and tangled themselves up with the thyme.

This annoyance is really all my fault. Before laying out a formal herb bed, I moved my chives three times. The worst was crowding them into the perennial flower garden (a bad, bad idea which still has me pulling onion-scented sprigs!) But there was an upside because now I’ve an abundance of chives bursting with spiky purple flowers and those edible petals are every bit as delicious as they are pretty. Slightly more pungent than the chives’ green stems, they impart equal parts soft crunch and potent oniony flavor to salads and pastas. Under Jon’s dubious brow – which believe me, was contorted with dreading curiosity – I tossed lemon vinaigrette with greens, walnuts, feta, pepper, and a few choice flowers. Needless to say he was surprised by the flavor. This edible is not your typical, bland pansy!

When you’re prepping, just make sure to wash and dry the flowers carefully, keeping an eye out for any small crawling creatures. Then discard the hardened flower stems and voila!